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inkandplasma 's review for:
Cinderella Is Dead
by Kalynn Bayron
Full review available from August 6th: https://inkandplasma.wordpress.com/2020/08/06/cinderella-is-dead-by-kalynn-bayron-review/
Rating: 4.5 stars
Trigger Warnings: homophobia, disappearances, execution, abuse, misogyny, racism, implied suicide.
Thanks to Bloomsbury YA for the review copy of this book, it hasn't affected my honest review.
I really liked the way that the world-building was done. It didn’t feel like there was an info-dump, but that it was threaded into the story very naturally, considering how much there was to learn about Lille. I never felt confused about what was going on, and I even started to put little clues together and predicted a couple of the plot reveals (though one in particular still totally threw me and made me gasp aloud). This is one of those books that made me feel as fiery with rage as it made me warm with hope as Sophia does her best to fight for what’s right, not just for herself but for all the women in Lille. The ending was perfectly tied up, and managed to heal where the book had just broken my heart in two, leaving me warm and satisfied and immediately wanting to order my own copy of this book!
The writing itself is gorgeous, and I already know I’m going to read literally everything Kalynn Bayron writes, because I wanted to devour the words themselves as well as the story. The way the characters interacted was beautiful, and I loved the complex relationships in the book. Sophia’s relationship with her parents was achy to read, their conflict between love for their daughter and fear of the consequences of helping her rebel made my heart hurt. Sophia and Erin’s relationship was equally impactful, and I felt seen in a lot of quiet, and still a little sore, lesbian ways as I read the early chapters. I wasn’t entirely sold on the main relationship in the book, I didn’t feel like it had that much development and I think I would have liked it even more if Sophia hadn’t fallen in love twice in the span of one book, however I do admit that I am a romance-grouch and that might just be my preferences!
Rating: 4.5 stars
Trigger Warnings: homophobia, disappearances, execution, abuse, misogyny, racism, implied suicide.
Thanks to Bloomsbury YA for the review copy of this book, it hasn't affected my honest review.
I really liked the way that the world-building was done. It didn’t feel like there was an info-dump, but that it was threaded into the story very naturally, considering how much there was to learn about Lille. I never felt confused about what was going on, and I even started to put little clues together and predicted a couple of the plot reveals (though one in particular still totally threw me and made me gasp aloud). This is one of those books that made me feel as fiery with rage as it made me warm with hope as Sophia does her best to fight for what’s right, not just for herself but for all the women in Lille. The ending was perfectly tied up, and managed to heal where the book had just broken my heart in two, leaving me warm and satisfied and immediately wanting to order my own copy of this book!
The writing itself is gorgeous, and I already know I’m going to read literally everything Kalynn Bayron writes, because I wanted to devour the words themselves as well as the story. The way the characters interacted was beautiful, and I loved the complex relationships in the book. Sophia’s relationship with her parents was achy to read, their conflict between love for their daughter and fear of the consequences of helping her rebel made my heart hurt. Sophia and Erin’s relationship was equally impactful, and I felt seen in a lot of quiet, and still a little sore, lesbian ways as I read the early chapters. I wasn’t entirely sold on the main relationship in the book, I didn’t feel like it had that much development and I think I would have liked it even more if Sophia hadn’t fallen in love twice in the span of one book, however I do admit that I am a romance-grouch and that might just be my preferences!